In Roxane Gay’s “Feel Me. See Me. Hear Me. Reach Me.” essay, found in her book Bad Feminist, she explains the way she uses her voice and experiences she has gone through from being a black women in today’s society. She takes these things and reveals the differences of reality everyone lives in. Gay starts off early in the essay comparing and contrasting different shows found on BET to those found on HBO. One show found on BET that caught her attention was a show about Lil Wayne’s ex-wife. The show Toya was nothing she could relate to and felt like it was misrepresenting the African American community by giving this vague point of view. She explains how she wishes that there was more recognition of the full spectrum of black people and not just those who are famous and rich and professional. Throughout the essay, Gay writes about how she was lucky enough to grow up in the professional world by going to graduate school and having parents who pushed her to have good grades. By the time she is helping other students, she questions herself and wonders if she is doing the best she can or even if she’s doing enough. She explains how nowadays with the negative influence the media has, it becomes harder to feel like people of color can do what they want or feel successful. This pushes Gay to want to work harder until she feels that it is achievable for herself and others who feel let down and restricted.
Although this essay concentrates on the idea of feminism, it can be related back to anyone, even through the differences. People all tend to feel limited to what they can and can not do because of opportunities given and how they communicate with others. Gay explains how “a person of color as a lawyer or doctor . . .wouldn’t be as interesting for the kids because of the allure of current offerings is undeniable” (6). This passage is important and stands out to me because it shows how other professions and work is not seen the same as being famous from rap music or sports. Children are essential for what we want to see in the future and when the media only shows these people, black children feel like the only way to make it in life is by being good at sports or by being able to sing. Many shows and social media show white people as professionals by having a doctorate or a PhD and this affects people of color into thinking they are limited and not seen as equal or greater for their abilities. People of color struggle to make an appearance of success because of how white people disregard it in society. This essay is a great eye opener for many people to see how privilege plays a huge role in society and how many encounter obstacles while growing up.
Source: Bad Feminist: "Feel Me. See Me. Hear Me. Reach Me."- Roxane Gay
VH.
Comentarios